PRTC premiere wins for Marco Bedrich at the city of Magdeburg GP at Motorsportarena Oschersleben

Motorsportarena Oschersleben. Following this year’s early season opener at the Hockenheimring in early March, the Pfister-Racing Touring Car Challenge (PRTC) started its third and fourth races of the season at Germany’s northernmost race track, Motorsportarena Oschersleben, from May 13 to 15, 2022. As part of the city of Magdeburg Grand Prix, the organizer MSC Stuttgart offered a great supporting program for the many motorsport fans, who were of course also keeping their fingers crossed for the PRTC racing drivers.

The PRTC was once again dominated by ambitious novices, fast newcomers and talented gentleman drivers, who provided an explosive mix with the ultimate touring car action.

“Real cars, real racing. That’s the motto of our racing series. We offer professionally organized races with appealing touring cars in 4 qualifying categories, at reasonable costs and with good marketing. This concept is becoming increasingly popular, and we have been pleased with the great response. Last but not least, our racers put on a terrific show for the spectators. We provide the ultimate touring car action!” stated organizer Andreas Pfister at the beginning of the racing weekend.

The Pfister-Racing Touring Car Challenge (PRTC) is becoming more and more popular with fans & drivers

All the racing cars are equipped with standard tires from TOYO TIRES, with the semi-slick Proxes R888R or RS1 Slick Proxes, which in combination with the central fielding and “rotating system” on the CHEVROLET and CUPRA racing cars (class 1 and 2) from Pfister-Racing GmbH, allow for a competitive race at affordable costs.

The winner of the 2022 Pfister Racing Touring Car Challenge (PRTC) in class 2 will receive a free test drive in the 350 hp TCR racing car.

Bright sunshine with best conditions for Bedrich

After the first free test sessions, the first qualifying session to determine the starting grid already indicated that Marco Bedrich (GER, Cottbus) had found his favorite conditions again. Bedrich, who is known for his “tight cornering” driving style, had clearly struggled to bring his speed to the track in cold weather conditions. However, it was a completely different story with high track temperatures: his driving style enabled him to make the most of the tire’s potential and secure pole position for race 1.

The first row of the grid was completed by 19-year-old Simon de Mori (AUT, Hörbranz), a strong youngster, ahead of Tim Schestag (GER, Walldorf) and David Stein (GER, Usingen), who also showed improving form.

Strong driving throughout the weekend: youngster Simon de Mori from Hörbranz (AUT)

The fans then found themselves eagerly awaiting the start of the first race, with a “Grand Prix” start this time.

Starting from pole, Bedrich clearly took the lead and was able to put a time gap between himself and his rivals in pursuit with good lap times right from the start. Behind him though, there were once again great touring car duels to watch with a battle between PRTC multi-time winner Tim Schestag and Simon de Mori. Schestag reached into his bag of tricks and was able to wrest second place from De Mori with eight valuable championship points.

Rookie Martin Held (GER, Berlin) also used his opportunities to get to know the CUPRA Ibiza V1 Cup racing car better lap by lap. He cleverly sat in the slipstream of the CHEVROLET Cruze Eurocup racing cars and was able to learn the correct racing line and braking points.

Winning streak broken – but still clear leader of the PRTC table: Tim Schestag with 34 competition points

In the other positions, Dirk Ehlebracht (GER, Oberursel) was able to improve somewhat after a mixed qualifying session and finished fourth ahead of David Stein.

In the middle of the field, the duel between Stein and Thomas Eckert (GER, Nuremberg) for a place in the top 5 provided plenty of action. Eckert was able to set the faster lap time in this race, but was a bit too overconfident when trying to attack Stein and had to leave the track for a short time, which cost him valuable seconds. In the end, he had to settle for 6th place.

The other competition points went to Claus Gramlich (GER, Frankfurt) in 7th place and of course Martin Held for another success in racing class 1.

Bedrich therefore celebrated his first ever touring car victory and naturally climbed the podium with a big smile on his face ahead of Schestag and de Mori.

After a short breather for the racers, it was back to business on Sunday, with the second qualifying session and second race on the agenda.

The second qualifying session provided another surprise: in the final minutes, Simon de Mori managed to secure a dream lap with 1:55.684, which catapulted him to pole position ahead of Marco Bedrich and Tim Schestag.

Fourth place on the grid went to David Stein ahead of Thomas Eckert, Dirk Ehlebracht and Martin Held as well as Claus Gramlich.

All the preparations were then already focused on the second race, which was to take place on Sunday afternoon.

Four-way battle in the second race sees Bedrich emerge victorious once again

From experience, the second race was expected to be even more risky for the racing drivers, as this was the final race of the weekend.

Starting from position 1 on the grid, De Mori initially reacted well to the lights going out and defended the lead ahead of Bedrich and Tim Schestag. Behind him, David Stein managed to improve his speed further and caught up with the leading trio. The four racers thus delivered an outstanding battle for the best places with regular changes in positions.

Every reason to smile: Marco Bedrich picks up 20 PRTC competition points.

Behind him Dirk Ehlebracht reached 5th place in front of a strong Martin Held, who had found a fantastic speed in his CUPRA Ibiza racing car.

But meanwhile, of course, all eyes were on the battle for victory. De Mori initially kept the victory in sight, but had to deviate from the racing line more and more often to defend his lead against Marco Bedrich by keeping him at bay. During a lapping maneuver, Bedrich managed to secure the lead with a clever move and did not relinquish it until the end of the race.

Tim Schestag defended the podium ahead of David Stein, who narrowly missed out on his first trophy.

This means that the PRTC is already heading for its season highlight at the Salzburgring (AUT). From June 17 to 19, 2022 the race series will start as part of the “XLR8 Race Weekend” with live stream and other highlights on the race weekend.

Thrilling motorsport action is guaranteed – 17 PRTC racing drivers have already announced their participation in three racing classes.